lead cast simi-wad cutter with Bullseye leaves my 1911 a mess

[Bmac1949]

I've been loading for my Colt Combat Commander using 4.0 grains of Bullseye and 200gr SWC lead cast bullets. The rounds cycle great and are accurate. I'll put a couple of hundred rounds though it on a long day at the range and when I get home to clean it it's a mess. The barrel is lead fouled which isn't that much of a problem except for the amount of time it takes. I just take a .410 bore brush and scrub the crap out of it after filling the barrel with swabs soaked in solvent for an hour. When I hold the barrel up to the light I can see the lead sticking to the barrel in places and keep working to get it out. My question is will lead also build up in the chamber as this would be harder to clean than the barrel. I'm going to switch over to jacketed bullets to solve the leading but the powder build up from the bullseye seems exessive. Any suggestions for cleaning or different loads?
Thanks

 

[primalfear45365]

Try some win231 and missouri lead bullets, should be pretty clean.

 

[steve4102]

Get some all copper Chore-Boy scrubbers and remove the lead in seconds not minutes.

Adjust you load to reduce or eliminate the leading.

 

[rcmodel]

4.0 grains Bullseye is a very light load with a single grease-groove 200 SWC.
Probably isn't enough powder to bump up the base of the bullet to fit the bore.
Especially if it is a bevel-base commercial bullet with hard but pretty color lube.

So, you are getting gas blow-by, and gas cutting, and leading.

Try upping the charge to 4.5 - 5.0 in steps and see if it gets more better.

rc

 

[jcwit]

Its possible your bullets are slightly undersized. Lead usually should be be at least .001 oversize from bore size.

I agree with steve regarding the Chore-Boy pot scrubbers, word of caution tho, be sure you get Chore-Boy brand which is copper, theres some imported ones coming in that are copper plated steel.

 

[rcmodel]

+1

Take a little pocket magnet to the Chore-Boy store and check it first.
Magnet won't stick to a real copper Chore-Boy.

rc

 

[LiveLife]

A few of us posted at the same time. +1 to what others posted.

The barrel is lead fouled ... When I hold the barrel up to the light I can see the lead sticking to the barrel in places and keep working to get it out.

Check your barrel bore diameter and bullet diameter to see they are sized for each other. My M&P barrel is .451" and I shoot .452" Missouri Bullets. I get little or no leading depending on the powder/charge I use. As to removing lead, after soaking the barrel, running copper scrubber wrapped old bore brush works well for me.

will lead also build up in the chamber as this would be harder to clean than the barrel.

No, most of fouling/gas cut lead deposit will be forward of the chamber as when the primer ignites the powder, case neck will expand against the chamber and make a tight seal. You may get "some" fouling buildup over time and I just use some solvent to soak and rotate a brush around the chamber to clean.

4.0 grains of Bullseye and 200gr SWC lead cast bullets.

I do not know what the hardness of your bullet is, but 4.0 gr of Bullseye for 200 gr bullet is a light load and may not be bumping the base enough to seal against the bore (obturation). If you do not get a good seal when the primer ignites the powder, you will get gas cutting and increased leading at chamber end and down. Try test loads at higher charges to see if the leading decreases. I shoot MBC 18 BHN bullets at mid-high range load data and 12 BHN bullets at start-mid range. Also, longer OAL that will reliably feed/chamber from the magazine will also reduce the "jump" gap and give less time for the hot gas to escape around the bullet, further reducing the gas cutting of the bullet.

powder build up from the bullseye seems exessive. Any suggestions for cleaning or different loads?

Most powders will burn dirtier at lower charges and cleaner at higher charges as you increase the chamber pressure. I would try a higher powder charge instead of "better" cleaning methods.

Different loads? I use Bullseye for 9mm/45ACP also and it burns dirtier than W231/HP38 at comparable loads.

 

[Bmac1949]

Thanks for the good info. I'll bump up the powder charge by a half gr and see if that helps. I kept it at 4.0gr and want to keep loads on the low side untill I get past the initial learning curve of reloading. I like this load alot for targets the round holes make scoring easy and double hits easy to spot and there is less of a fatigue factor. I use the factory HPs for SD. I measured the bore of barrel at .451" and the SWC measure 4.52" so I should be OK there. I think blow by is the problem once you described it so hopefully this will take of it.

 

[earplug]

Bullet seating die?

I was having leading problems due to a LEE seating die that would also resize the case. This made the loaded bullet undersize for my firearm. I'd get the tumbling bullet leaded barrel problems.

 

[steve4102]

I was having leading problems due to a LEE seating die that would also resize the case.

Are you talking about the Lee Factory Crimp Die or the seating die? My Lee seating dies do not contact and resize the case. If yours does I think your die is out of specs.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I agree, I have never had my Lee FCD contact the case of any round I've reloaded. If it does there's something drastically wrong in the reloading process before you get to the FCD.

 

[earplug]

Bullet and Dies

Lee sells various bullet molds made to use without sizing.
They also sell the factory taper crimp bullet seating die.
This die will re-size the loaded bullet and case to fit your chamber. Is sold to duplicate factory specs on reloaded ammunition.
It might squeese the case and bullet to a size that is not conducive to accuracy or to work with cast lead bullets.
In my firearms it has worked well with Lee cast 357 148 grain DEWC and 452 200 grain LSWC. It has failed with commercial swaged lead HBWC's and my cast Lee one radius 225 452 molds.

 

[steve4102]

They also sell the factory taper crimp bullet seating die.

The Lee Factory Crimp die does not seat the bullet. It is only a crimp die that has a carbide sizing ring at the base and is used after the bullet is seated by a separate seating die.

 

[jcwit]

I agree, I have never had my Lee FCD contact the case of any round I've reloaded. If it does there's something drastically wrong in the reloading process before you get to the FCD.

My Lee 45 ACP Factory Crimp Die did contact the case of rounds with a cast lead bullet seated in place. These lead bullets were sized on my Lyman luber/sizer with a 451 sizer die in place. These bullets were checked for correct size with a micrometer and were in fact .451 in diameter.

Mayhap the FCD was defective? Mayhap I just didn't know what I was doing? However I doubt it as I've been reloading since the 60's. Problem was eventually solved with the help of another member here by just doing away with the FCD and returning to my orginal way of seating and crimping at the same time.

Its my opinion "whatever thats worth" that the FCD is looking for a problem to solve that has yet to present itself. With that said I'm sure Lee makes alot of bucks on folks that are happy in their ignorance. There are those that are happy with all the "natural" food and vitimans as they are the cure all for everything while forgetting lead, nicotine, cocoa leaves, ect., ect., are also all natural.

 

[LiveLife]

Do we even know if the OP has a FCD?

Reloading process involves several variables. It's about adjusting these variables one at a time to end up with the results we are looking for, in the OP's case, less leading.

Bmac1949, keep us posted as to how things work out.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Mayhap the FCD was defective? Mayhap I just didn't know what I was doing? However I doubt it as I've been reloading since the 60's. Problem was eventually solved with the help of another member here by just doing away with the FCD and returning to my orginal way of seating and crimping at the same time.

jcwit,
I never meant to imply you didn't have a problem or that you did anything wrong. I was only relaying my experiences with the FC Dies.

I have a 4 hole turret press and the FCD comes in the 4 die Lee sets so I use it. I'm not looking to do the post sizing, I just like to crimp in a separate operation.

 

[res45]

I agree with the above post as to the load being on the light side and not bumping up the bullets base I use about an 11 to 12 BHN bullet. For cast bullets in the 45 ACP I like the Lee 230 gr. RN TL bullet shot as cast with two light coats of Lee Alox behind 4.5 grs. of Bullseye,it dead nut accurate as good as you can hold it.

I have no experience with the Lee FCD and just use the built in taper crimp on the bullet seater die which is not really a crimp at all in the sense of the word. A properly adjust taper crimp may or may not increase tension on the bullet by 10% applying to much taper crimp will buckle the case and release the tension on the bullet or undersize it depending on the bullet material.

Bullet tension is determined by resizing die,expander plug,case wall thickness and bullet dia. I take a sized case from a particular headstamp and measure it across the case mouth then run it into the taper crimp die and measure it again it should be either the same or about .002 small depending on the type bullet used,FMJ ,plated or cast.